The Darkened Highway

The Darkened Highway Chapter Seven

The sun was going down, not that there was any visibility to begin with. All I had was my pocket light on a chain around my neck. At least Happy was here beside me. I had no clue where Ben was. How could I get myself lost in this dreadful forest? How long had I been walking? I got the impression I'd been walking in circles. Now and then, Happy would bark as if something were there.

"Come on Happy; we'll find a way out of here soon."

He made a little woof in response, with his tail wagging. I kneeled, patting him on the head.

"That's a good boy!"

Out of my vision, I caught movement. I spun around to identify what it was. Was it an animal? A predator like a bear or a wolf? Another flash of movement caught my attention.

"Who's there?!" I shouted.

I backed up a few steps when I fell backward, landing on my bare behind. Was there a log there before? My flashing light around my legs. To my surprise, I indeed find a piece of wood. I checked the path with my light and surely the path I'd just walked was clear. That wasn't there a few moments ago. Chills went down my back as the faintest touch ran down my mid-back. I quickly jumped around to my knees, shining the light in that direction. There was nothing here. Not even footprints. An eerie feeling sank into my mind, like something was watching me from the surrounding darkness. Then I realized Happy was gone again. I panicked. Where had he gone so suddenly? I paused before calling out his name again, but my instincts told me not to. There was something dangerous out there. The moon peeked through an opening in the trees, lighting the small area.

My stomach tightened when I witnessed it and my body tensed up. A rush of fear swelled up inside of me. From the opening in front of me, two golden orbs stared steadily and unmoving back at me. It was hard to tell what it was, but it was taller than anything I had ever seen. It was mere feet away from me, just outside of the moonlight. I slowly brought my pocket light up to illuminate it. My heart was pounding fast, and I struggled to control my breathing. Sweat dripped down from my forehead, pooling around my nose and mouth. My lips quivered, and the taste of salt melted in my mouth. Sweat and mud drenched my entire body. My dress clung tightly to my body like a second skin. I trembled frighteningly with the moment my light was about to cast upon it.

Whatever the animal was, it could move quicker than my eyes could track as it darted to the left of me. I frantically tried to see what it was the creature was, but it moved faster than any animal I knew of. If it was a predator. Then I knew my tush is surely done for. Clouds briefly blocked the moonlight, which was my only other source of illumination save for my lighter. The next moment, it was right on me. Just inches from my face. All I detected in the darkness was the gold eyes of the creature. A furious breath of hot air tickled the hair on my face and chest. The animal-like creature had to be seven or eight feet tall. Its huge and bulky stature towered over me. A black mass of pure terror stood before me with wide shoulders and long, muscled limbs. I wanted to run, but how far could I get? What was this thing? The golden orbs lowered closer to my face. Something grabbed my chest, stroking my breasts heavily but delicately. Its sharp nails dug against my skin as it squeezed one of my breasts carefully so as not to break the flesh. A sticky fluid dripped down onto my stomach and thighs. I stood frozen as the creature hovered over me. It then forcibly turned me onto my stomach in one swift motion. Its clawed fingers explored my back and bottom slowly, before a sharp pain burned my right inner thigh.

I flipped over, finding the creature gone. Happy barked excitedly as he hopped in my lap, licking my breast and stomach. He licked every inch of my body before he settled down. A rush of relief overcame me and a sense of happiness as I hugged him; I held him close to my bosom as he licked me. Whatever that animal was, Happy must have scared it off. I noticed we were under a weird tree that differed from the others and looked to be ancient. The way it looked in the moonlight gave me the creeps. I put that out of my mind for now. My thigh was throbbing with pain. I shined my light on my thigh to see five scratches. They were deep, but weren't bleeding. To make matters worse, my dress was all torn and shredded to pieces. My body had small scratch marks all over it, especially my breasts. My body was nude, and the torn fabric of what it left of my clothes fell off.

Happy curled up beside me. He gave me a feeling of being safe and comfortable with him by my side. He was unusually warm and seemed to have a lot more hair than normal. A drowsiness came over me suddenly. My body is coming down from the adrenaline rush I just had. I lay back against the eerie tree. It was hard staying awake, and drowsiness was taking me over, urging me to go to sleep. A funny feeling came over me for a moment. I wasn't afraid of this forest anymore.